Kolkata: At least 50 shanties were gutted after a major fire broke out at a slum in Chetla Lock Gate area late on Wednesday night.
Mayor Firhad Hakim suspected sabotage behind the incident. He said: “Forensic test is being conducted to find out the cause of the fire. We are going to use tin sheets to set up structures for the people. As the land belongs to the port, no permanent structure can be constructed. I have asked the fire brigade to find out whether it was a sabotage as several people who want to have the land were eager to vacate the land.”
According to sources, around 1:30 am on Wednesday, fire broke out at the Nandigram Slum in Chetla Lock Gate area. The slum is reportedly located on the land of the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust. A few slum dwellers saw flames in a shanty and alerted the occupants. Immediately the area was evacuated. Within a few moments the fire spread to the shanties one by one due to windy weather.
Initially, the slum dwellers tried to douse the flames by throwing water but failed. After a while five fire tenders were pressed into action. Meanwhile, the fire kept on spreading due to multiple LPG cylinder explosions. The blaze was controlled around 5 am on Thursday. Later the cooling process was carried out for three more hours. No injury was reported.